Happy to say that I survived the marathon! Although I did not win any prizes at the end of the contest, it was quite enjoyable and challenging. 🙂

Slightly to my surprise, I managed to stay awake for all 8 movies without needing to heavily dose up on coffee. For me, the toughest period was from 5 – 9am (just after the 5th movie). Actually, had a Red Bull on Saturday afternoon, and the organisers did give out a canned coffee on the bus, but, honestly, it was nothing more than coffee-flavoured water.

A bit more about the contest itself – and it was a contest because a questionnaire was handed out at the at the start of the first movie, to be completed by the end of the marathon. The whole group of about 480 people were divided into halves and sent on two routes, and the 8 movies were shown in 8 GV cinemas around Singapore. The route I followed was GV Grand -> GV Yishun -> GV Tampines -> GV Bishan -> GV Jurong Point -> GV Plaza -> GV Tiong Bahru -> GV Marina. I believe at least 400 people made it to the end.

Overall, I think it was a good concept to use 8 different locations for the 8 films. At the very least, it was like a mini-tour all over Singapore. After all, I was unlikely to visit some of the cinemas again since they are kind of out of the way. This meant a breath of fresh air in between films. Furthermore, the fact that the majority of the films shown were comedies (for the laughs and also require no concentration whatsoever) in my opinion helped to keep people awake!? However, one guy still managed to doze off and snore very loudly in the middle of The terminal…

On the logistics side, meals were provided while we were travelling on the coaches to various locations. The travelling plus waiting time once we arrived meant there were breaks of 40min – 1hr between movies so it was possible to take a quick nap, since during 4th – 6th movies, no shops were open by the time we reached the cinemas.

Verdict on the films (in viewing order):

  • Lady killers: black comedy, funny in a subtle way – so need to be attentive to catch some of the humour- and a bit kwirky at times.
  • White chicks: what do you expect? occasional laughs – the usual black-American humour that are acceptable – but kind of forgettable.
  • Face: horror. Fortunately, conveniently “missed” a few of the scarier scenes. Has a reasonable storyline to it, so I guess that made it less scary!?
  • Dodgeball: has laughs here and there but nothing to take seriously.
  • The terminal: very nicely done and excellent acting from Tom Hanks once again. Although billed as a romantic-comedy, I must say there was not much of romance.
  • Raising Helen: light-hearted but kind of bland and slow.
  • Without a paddle: ha-ha and forgettable. Some laughs but belongs in the silly category.
  • Man on fire: a rather unusual Denzel Washington in this movie. A tragic hero. However, character could have done with a lot more development.